“Your great-great-grandfather, Frank Richmond Milnor, sat right here in 1858,” my grandfather said, pointing to an unremarkable spot near the riverfront in Alton, Illinois. “He was just twelve, listening to the seventh Lincoln-Douglas Debate.” My sister and I nodded, listening absently, the study of our rapidly-delaminating ice cream cones of greater focus and import than […]

I was going to write about chaos. The chaos raining down upon us by a populist fearmonger and his pedestaled, unelected, too-rich-to-really-care sledgehammer-wielder. The infantile shattering of all vestiges of American decency, a skulking retreat to shuddering isolationism and xenophobia paradoxically cast as a symbol of impending greatness. The resounding dearth of humanity in the […]

Some thoughts about horizons, perspectives, Udhauli Parva, and more, plus a new interactive panorama from the top of the Amphu Laptsa!

It seemed impossible. The wind was relentless, tossing me around at 25,000 feet on Everest's North Ridge. It was futile, and then I laughed...